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THE LIQUOR EVIL.
Is Prohibition the Proper Remedy?
The Use of Strong Drink Soberly
Considered (Vom a Scriptural
* Standpoint?The Moral Itesponsl
billtlee of Manhood ami Woman?
hood.
AO the Editor of The Dally Item:
Truly there I? a r.ght and wrons
aide to the prohibition question, and
It Is a good thing to be able to know,
rather than to think wo know, thai
we are on the right side. Now 1
would like te know by what authority
your Smithvllle correspondent cabs
Intoxicating liquors "accursed stuff."
The scriptures teach that Ood ga'O
intoxicating liquor as a blessing, utd
In them Is found a promise to his
* people to bless their wine. This prom?
ise has been abundantly fulfllle?.
How Iben can Christians call It so
sursed? And why does he call so
devoutly on all Christians to pray to
the Ood of heaven, without ceasing,
for His help to remove tha* which He
r^has seen fit to bestow upon mankind
aa a blessing, then Ignore the wisdom
of Ood end the eloquence of His wotd
and wish for the wisdom and elo?
quence of a heathen philosopher that
he might go forth and plead with the
people te do a thing which does no:
agree with the teachings of the Bl
ble? Suppose that It la the whlskej
that drags men and boys down to
perdition; how does It distinguish
between the men and boys and >V
women and girls, snd why does II
drag the one down and leave tho oth?
er. Let the friends of a respectable
young men of a good family find him
helplessly drunk on the street, they
would take him up and take care of
him. the liquor and the liquor dealer
would be blamed more than he and
ft be never did so any more some
people would look upon him as being
quite a hero. If his sister were to be
found In such a condition It would
bring overwhelming shame upon her?
self and her whoie family. She wMl
not Indulge her appetite for Intoxicat?
ing liquors no matter how much she
may like the taste of them.
The working man may leave his
pgfgts in the morning, wall and alle
to do his work, and be brought back
In the evening helpless with drink and
l e will be put to bed, coffee niaie 1 >
kill the effect of the liquor and every?
thing done that can be to relieve him.
/and this or the like of this may be re?
peated time and again until there Is no
coffee to make, no bed to put him in
and no h<>.ne to carry him to, and he
will not be blamed so much. It Is
the liquor or the liquor dealer that
does It. But Just let this same mun
i go out to his work In the morning,
and leave his wife well and able to
attend to ell her household duties
and return In the evening to find his
house In disorder, his meal unpre?
pared, his children neglected and his
wife bnoonaclous with drink, what
i would be the consequence? Don't
tell me that In every case It Is be?
cause she can't get the liquor or don't
like the taste of It that she does not
get drunk. She don't dare to do It.
If aer husband would allow It she
would not bring upon herself such
overwhelming ruin. If the poor,
'?weak-minded" women can escape
the grasp of the "accursed stuff" by
the exercise of will power and self
control. *nhy can't the men and boys
escape by the same means? Ood
does not require Impossibilities of
men. and that St. Paul wrote, "be not
drunk with wine." Is sufficient proof
-that it is a matter of a man's own
choice, whether he Is a drunkard or
not. And that those who teach total
abstlueoce piece together the words
of Scripture to make such sayings a*
"Touch not. tests not. handle not, the
accursed stuff" or "the unclean thing."
Is proof that there is nothing in the
Scriptures to support their doctrine.
Like those doctrines of the vJews
about the washing of pots and cups
and eating with unwashen hands
It is a doctrine of men. Prohibition
look* much like rejecting the com?
mandment of Ood, to punish the
drunkard, that we may keep this
eommandment of men. Unclean and
accursed are words often found In
the Scriptures, but not once Is either
one used there with the least refer?
ence to wine or strong drink. "Touch
not. tsste not, handle not" is from the
sscond chapter of the epistle to the
Colosstan*. Instead of teaching to?
tal abstinence this chapter teaches
how. through the sustaining power of
Christ, we may overcome the flesh,
snd be free from such ordinances a?.
"Touch not. taste not. handle not." It
also warns us to beware of the doc?
trines of men Those Interested should
rsad and see what Is said In It about
drink. The Israelites were required
to give wine with nearly all their of
ferlngs, and the strong wine was
pour 1 to the Lord In the Holy Pi n ,
every morning and evening. Would
an unclean thing have been pound
there aa an emblem of the blood that
must be poured out for the r? n.is i .n
Of sins? St Matthew, St. Mark and
St. Luke all tell us that when JggfH
took the cup he gave thanks. For
tvhst i thing accursed? Ho also
I?I the di*< I plea that he would drink
no nn.r. >t the fruit of the vine until
he drank It new with them In the
kingdom of Clod. Shall we find any
thing unclean or accursed or any?
thing that may be compared to a
thing unclean or accursed In that
|>lace where "anything that defileth"
or "worketh abomination," "shall In
no wise enter?" In the law given to
Moses God commanded that the pa?
rents of a stubborn and rebellious son,
who wouM not obey their voice, but
was a glutton and a drunkard, bring
him out to the elders of his city, testi?
fy against him and have him put to
? death, and said "so shalt thou put
evil away from among you, and all
Israel shnll hear end fear." The
wicked man who should secretly bless
himself saying, "1 shall have peace
though I walk In the imaginations of
mine heart, to add drunkenness to
thirst," is denounced and condemned
to the most dreadful punishment. By
this we see that God ascribes drunk?
enness to stubbornness, rebellious?
ness, disobedience and wicked Imagi?
nations of the heart. The Prophet
Isaiah soys, "Woe unto them that
rise up ear'y In the morning that they
may follow stong drink; that con?
tinue until night, till wine Inflame
them!" St. Paul forbids us to keep
company with one who is called a
brother If he Is a drunkard, and In
his epistle to the Galatlans he says
drunkenness Is a lust, a work of the
flesh, and declares those guilty of it
shall not Inherit the Kingdom of God.
Would a wise and Just God thus de?
nounce and condemn his creatures If
they were Innocent victims of drink.
St. James says that, "every man Is
tempted, when he la drawn away of
his own lust, and enticed." It Is cer?
tain that If men did not like the taste
and effect of liquor the most subtle
dealer could make but few drunk?
ards. They do not spend their money
so freely for what they do not want,
and the "poor drunkard" knows that
he never felt the Impulse of an "ac?
cursed craving" until after he had
many times broken God's command
by over-Indulging ,a natural appetite.
Those who accuse others of making
them drink confess that they have
broken three of God's commands, by
being drunk, keeping bad company
and yielding to the enticement of sin?
ners. Those who claim that In some
cases drunkards are thf victims of
physicians' prescriptions should re?
member that the Scripture says,
"Wine la a mocker, strong drink Is
raging: and whoseover is deceived
thereby is not wise." They are de-1
Ci ived not because of the power of
the wine or strong drink, but because
of their own foolishness, and Christ
mentioned foolishness, as one of the
things that come out of the
heart and defile the man. At
the same time he said. "There is
; nothing frorr, without a man, that
entering Into him can defile him."
The doctor snows well enough how
to prescribe liquor without harming
his patients, if his instructions are
carulully obeyed, and he Is Imme?
diately Informed If any symptoms of
Intoxication appear, but those who
hink that all that Is necessary Is to
t ke enough, ake it often enough and
that they may keep on taking it un?
til they feel Ike quitting, are very
upt to find themselves obeying the
impulse of tie drunkard's craving.
Instead of teaching total abstinence
we should teach temperance, obedi?
ence, self-coni.rol and that manhood
or womanhood which dares at all
times to do right. Even if the pro?
hibition law couW be effectually en?
forced It would benefit the morals of
the dr inkard no more than locks and
keys benefit the morals of thieves
It Is the demand of the drunkards
for liquor that keeps Christian men
out of the business, and it Is left al?
most entirely In the hands of a class
of men who do not care for the evils
of excessive drinking, and among
them must be some of the most sel?
fish, greedy and unscrupulous men
that ever lived. Dr. James Atkins
told In The Children's Visitor several
years ago of one liquor dealer who,
In an address to his association, de?
clared that the business depended
largely on creating appetite for drink,
and that the open field for creating
this aupetite was among the boys. Is
it any wonder If the curse of God
should follow and overtake men who
will, for the sake of money, make
drunkards of their neighbors' sons
while they are yet boys? God does
not forget or overlook them, and they
shall In no wise escape punishment.
Certainly they should be put out of
the liquor business, end the most ef?
fectual way to do so Is to put a stop
to ho much drunkenness by punishing
those who indulge In It, and making
them feel the shame of their crime.
The liquor deal th of all men are In
? position to know, and one of them
told the truth for once, when he said
that their business depended largely
In creating appetite for drink. If I
law were about to be made w hich they
i>? lieved WOUM prevent men from
creating appetite their addresses to
their association would sound much
like the address of Demetrius the
Kpbesian silversmith to his associa?
tion, gad thry might try with the help
of the drunkards and olllc-seekinu
politicians to ril e an uprour that
would last several years.
We read of no executions under the
law which required parents who
could not bring up their children
temperate, sober and obedient, to
bring them out and have them put
to death, and I suppose such occur?
rences were very rare, if they ever
happened at all, but no doubt, the
law served a good purpose by pre
venting parents from being negligent.
They were not anxious to excuse
themselves by saying "I can't."
Common sense ought to teach that
the drunkards are what the light of
the Elide shows them to be, selfish
criminals, instead of unfortunate vic?
tims of drink, and that it is upon
themselves and not the liquor, they
bring the curse. When they appear
before the great Judge who knows
the secrets of all hearts, such excuses
as, "The accursed stuff which thou
gavest us deceived me," or "The
dram8eller beguiled me, and I did
drink," will not save them from the
inevitable punishment that awaits
them. There is nothing like punish?
ing the drunkards that will also pun?
ish the wicked dealer and the care?
less parent with so little harm or In?
justice to any one else, therefore by
all means tot us punish the drunkard
so shall we put much evil away from
among us, and even the Ignorant and
youthful "shall hear and fear."
As to the sin of putting the bottle
to the neighbor's mouth about which
the Smithvllle correspondent asked
some time ago, If he will read care?
fully he will see that what is said in
the Scripture about It has no special
reference to either the liquor dealer
or the drunkard, but to anyone who
will make his neighbor drunk that he
may take some undue advantage of
the drunken condition, and the words
used apply to any case, either literal?
ly or In a figurative sense, for those
who will allow themselves to be made
drunk permit faults of mind and
character to be exposed of which
they should be ashamed. From what
Is said in the same chapter about
transgressing by wine, covetousness,
building towns with blood and estab?
lishing cities by -iniquity, we know
that the prophet had in mind offen?
ders against society in general as well
as offenders against individuals. In
fact, the whole chaptt r seems
to apply to certain poli?
ticians of tne present day
who worship the things of this world
instead of their Creator, especially,
those who seek by means of the bot?
tle to take advantage of ignorance
and vice and thus assume a power
at the ballot box similar to that of
the president in congress or the gov?
ernor in the legislature. They are the
greatest insult t?v democracy that I
can think of. How democrats can
tolerate them for a moment I don't
know, but I do know that it was done
right here in this county at the pri?
mary election last year. I heard a
farmer say that when he went to the
election he was met by a stranger who
took him aside and Offered to give
him a drink of liquor. This being de?
clined, he offered to help him fix his
ticket. To this the farmer did not
object until the man with the bottle
stroked his pencil through the name
of one of two candidates for a cer?
tain county office. He thought that
was the right name to stroke, but the
voter didn't think so, and that ticket
had to be thrown away, and the same
name was stroked on the second tick?
et by "mistake." He "forgot" and
stroked it again on the third ticket.
By this time the voter decided he
didn't want to put a "fixed" ticket in
the box, and insisted on voting with?
out help. If he had taken a drink
from that bottle he might not have
been able to see which name was
stroked with the pencil. However,
the candidate for whom he voted was
beaten by a small majority. Now did
the bottle man succeed in making up
this majority by "fixing" tickets and
buying votes with a drink of liquor
and thus decide himself who should
have the office, or did he influence
more than enough and thereby si?
lence the voice of the majority? Was
he there for some selfish purpose of
his own, defaming the name of a
good man, or was the candidate the
real bottle man? Just think what a
difference It would make if he suc?
ceeded in "fixing" and buying only
five votes at three places, three at
five and one or two at a few other
places. I have been told that the
friends of both canditates might have
had a bottle, but I don't know. I
hope not. Just suppose they did,
then what was the election? Merely
a bottle contest in which the man
with the better filled or more skillful?
ly manipulated bottle was the winner.
A drunk man should never be allow?
ed to vote, and such things as "fix?
ing" tickets and selling or buying
votes for a drink of liquor or any?
thing else Is a shame on our civiliza?
tion.
0 if government is a democracy,
therefore, if a majority of the citi?
zens of the county who have a legal
right to vote, want to try what vir
ture there is In a prohibition law.
they should have It. and all Demo?
crats should make It their business to
see that no man with his bottle cheat
them out of It, and change the gov?
ernment Into what, I suppose, might
be called g bottleocracy.
BOBBR,
Buinter, S. C, It. F. D. No. 4, Aug. 3,
1909.
HAT BURNS ON GIRL'S HEAP.
Fire on Peach Basket Cause? General
Disorganization of Tilings in At?
lanta Depot.
Atlanta, Aug. 3.?A fire upon the
roof garden of a pretty girl's hat at
the union station this afternoon call?
ed out tow fire companies, a hose car
a score of willing amateur firemen,
delayed a fast train and destroyed
about $30 worth of finery upon the
peach basket aforesaid.
The young woman, enroute to New
York, rushed into the station for a
bite to eat. In paying her check she
swung the confection too close to a
cigar lighter. In an instant the or?
chard which adorned it was a mass
of very smelly flames. A dark skin?
ned waiter turned in a fire alarm and
every available male guest tried to
rescue the affair, thereby convincing
the wearer, who knew naught of the I
conflagration that she had blundered
Into an insane asylum.
The train was held a few minutes
until the victim recovered from an at?
tack of near hysterics, when she gra?
ciously permitted it to proceed, giv?
ing vent to'a few personal opinions of
cigar lighters in general and this one
in particular.
TO HELP WEAK SCHOOLS.,
$20,000 Has Been Appropriated by
The Legislature.
CHunrcbia, Aug. 4.?Within the past
two weeks the State superintendent
of education, Mr. Swearingen, has re?
ceived applications from weak
schools for aid to the amount of
about $2,0J^0. The legislature appro?
priated *thl8 year $20,000 to aid the
weak schools of the State.. Only $7,
000 of this amount has been taken
up this year as the appropriation was
not available until late in the school
year, however, the remaining $13,000
will be distributed during the coming
fall. At a recent conference of the
county superintendents held In Spar
tanburg a resolution was passed urg?
ing the legislature to increase this
amount. A similar resolution was
passed at a meeting of the school
trustees of Spartanburg County held
several days ago.
An Appeal for the Y. M. C. A.
Mr. Editor:
Please allow me space in your col?
umns to express my appreciation of
the articles which have already been
written concerning the Y. M. C. A. 1
heartily agree with all of them, but
feel that enough has not been said.
Sumter has always been called the
game cock city, and why? Because
every good request that has been
made of her, not only in her sport?
ing and commercial life, but for the
moral and spiritual uplift she has al?
ways been ready to lend a helping
hand. The writer has been a resident
of this city going on two years, and
while a young man he can truth?
fully say with pleasure, that the mor?
al and spiritual life of the young men
of this city is far above the average.
What the business people of this
world are calling for today are young
men of good moral character, men
whose influence Is for good, which
means success.
The call Is now for a Y. M. C. A.
for Sumter, and we believe the
good business men, Christian fathers
and mothers will not leave a stone
unturned until Sumter has one of the
best Y. M. C. A.'s In South Carolina.
The time Is near at hand when
probably the dispensary will be done
away with, and as we read in Satur?
day's Item that the clubs would then
grow, we say that if the Christian
men and women of this city will co?
operate in this great, and good move?
ment of the Y. M. C. A. and throw
good influence around our hpys that
we should, that instead of tnlse clubs
increasing they will diminish. Fath?
ers and mothers, preachers and lay?
men, this is a grand step which the
young men of your city are taking.
Come out tonight and help us in this
good work. Come and help ui make
the attractions of a Y. M. C. A. great?
er than the clubs can possibly make
their attractions, and if we do this
God's smiles will be upon us and we
will be the means of saving many a
young maji?probably your boy. We
can overcome evil with good, so let
us have the Opera House full tonight,
and let all take an active part.
W. D. S.
Through Attorney H. P. Burbage.
J. Fred Lanham, first baseman and
catcher for the Spartanburg team has
instituted suit in the Common Pleas
Court in Spartanburg for $1,000
against the Greenville Electric Rail?
way Company. He alleges that he
was thrown from a street car In that
city July 6 and that he suffered in?
juries from which he will not perma?
nently recover.
I know a man who says, "Thought,
persisted in, Will bring you success?
thought alone!" But he is still sell?
ing a patent w indow-fasterner as a
side line.
In view of tho tariff proceedings,
why not write it "Senate?"
CONFEREES CONFER AGAIN.
Hide and Leather Question Causes
Hitch In Tariff Legislation.
Washington, August 2.?Tariff leg?
islation has been delayed again by the
hide and leather question, and as a
result the conferees were again called
together today.
The session was for^the purpose of
enticing into the open a certain
"ebony-hued person" reported by
Western senators to be lurking in the
"wood pile."
These senators said the leather
schedule, as arranged by the con?
ferees with the approval of the presi?
dent, was unfair to the States inter?
ested in protected hides. It was
agreed today they must be conciliated
if the conference report "Is to be
adopted.
Soon after the senate met today the
senate leader and his assistants learn?
ed of the charge that there was a
"joker" in the compromised hide and
leather schedule.
The difficulty appeared to be a lack
of understanding between the con?
ferees, the president and the Western
senators concerning the condition un?
der which the latter consented to hides
being placed on the free list. The
Westerners said they had been led to
believe all boots and shoes of leather
were to be dutiable at 10 per cent
and all harness at 20 per cent. When
the conference report was issued it
appeared the redactions applied only
to articles manufactured in chief part
of the class of hides which were to
be made free of duty.
Finding the Westerners not amen?
able to argument, some of the senate
leaders, dissatisfied members, hurried
to the Wh^te House. There all were
informed that the president had not
been fooled. He was reported to have
told his callers that he fully under?
stood the character of the compro
mise.
It was declared by the conferees,
in defence of their action, that the
course pursued was necessary from B
parliamentary standpoint. To have
reduced all boots and shoes, they
said, would have compelled the re
submission of the question to the
house.
Senator Aldrich, as soon as'he re?
turned from the White House to the
Capitol, called the conferees together
and a number of Western senators
were given an audience before the
committee.
Senators Brown and Borah both
had letters from the president bear?
ing upon the alleged "joker," which
wee read to the conferees. The pres?
ident asserted that the leather and
hide schedule, as adopted, was just
as'he had undei stood it. He said that
l.'is understanding was that the re?
duction on leather goods should be
made on those manufactures of hith?
erto dutiable hides, and should not
include manufactures of hitherto free
hides.
It was practially conceded that in
order to insure the passage of the
conference report, the low rates on
boots and shoes and harness would
have to be applied to calf skin pro?
ducts as well as to leather from a
class of hides that are now duitiable,
but made free by the conference re?
port. ?
No programme has been reached
positively as to the course of proce?
dure to be followed in accomplishing
this result.
-
Congress will have to send out a
bookcase with the Congressional Rec?
ord this year.
Twenty-one counties in South Car?
olina now realize the situation of the
other twenty-one.
Chicago has some street-cars that
are forty-five feet long and very
heavy. Their size is perhaps designed
not necessarily to give more accamo
dations to passengers, but to success?
fully combat the heavy automobiles.
Georgia passes a law making it a
misdemeanor to speak ill of a wo?
man, and then passes another law
prohibiting trading stamps. Consis?
tency is only a Barrious gem in
Georgia.
Everybody
Will Wear Specs
Some Day.
Present statistics show that there is
a wonderful increase in the number
of people who depend on glasses for
gcod vision, 'fake enlightened Bos?
ton, "The Hub." for instance. There
are more people wearing specs there
than in any other city of its size.
Where learning and progress are. you
Will find the most people wearing
glasses. Are you going to stay behind
till you have to have them and then
maybe fhnd you have waited too long,
that some small trouble has grown on
till glasses won't remedy it?
IF YOU DON'T NEED 'EM WE
TELL YOU.
W. A. Thompson,
(1 S. Main Street ? Suinter, s. C.
CASTOR IA
For Infants and Children.
The Kind You Have Always Bought
Bears the
Signature of
$2.75
?TO ?
C.
And Return.
$4.05
-TO?
3 S, hi
/Ml
Return
(For Myrtle Beach.)
?VIA
Atlantic Coast line
Tickets for sale for all trains
each Saturday and for Sunday
forenoon, trains commencing'
Saturday, May-29th and continu?
ing to Saturday, Sept. 4th, 1909,,
limited to return Monday follow?
ing date of sale.
An excellent opportunity to>
visit the famous Seashore Resorts
of South Carolina at a minimum
cost.
For information, call on Ticket
Agent, or write.
W. J. CRAI6, T. C. WHITE,
Pas. Traf. Mgr. Sen, Pas. Agft
WILMIN6T0N, H. K _
DO YOU
WANT A PIANO
for your own pleasure to pass
the leisure hour In sweetest
hai'inony, to calm your ruffled
soul, and soften your duties
when tired and lonely?
DO YOU
WANT A PIANO
to hand down to your little
grand daughter as a priceless
souvenir?a Piano that will
stand a storm of usage muT still
live. Then buy a Steiff, a long
lived, sweet toned Stieff. A
thing of beauty and a joy for?
ever.
Chas. M. Stieff
Manufacturer of
Artistic Stieff, Shaw and
Stieff Self-Player Pianos.
Southern Warerooan
5 West Trade St.
OHA It LOTTE, - - N. C.
C. 11. Yilmoth,
Manager.
(Mention this paper.)
PATENTS
PROCURED AND DEFENDED.s/ndn>od*M
drawing or photo, for expert search and free report I
Free advice, how to obtain patents, trade marks, |
Copyright?, etc, |N ALL COUNTRIES.
Business direct uitk Washington saivs //W,|
money and often the patent.
Patent and Infringement Practice Exclusively.
Write or come to us at
623 Ninth Btrwt, opp. United States Patent Office |
WASHINGTON, D. C.
8c
60 YEARS*
EXPERIENCE
Patents
I RADE Irl AHRS
Designs
Copyrights Ac.
ArtTone ponding a sketch und description niry
quickly ascertain our opinion free whether au
invention is probably patentable. Communica?
tions strict lyconUilcntlal. HloDDOOK on Patent*
sent free. Ol.lost agency for securing patents.
Patents taken through Munn St Co. receive/
rpccial notice, without charce. In the
Scientific Jfmericati,
A hnndsnmolT Illustrated weekly. J.anreSt cfr
cubit ion <>f any scientific journal. Terms. S3 as
vc\r; four months, |L Sold by all newsdealam.
WI?NN&Go.36'e'""?'NewYori
Brauch Ortlco. Ci5 F BU WsSStSftOSi I>. C